On May 7, 1915, the British ocean liner RMS Lusitania, rival of the Titanic, was torpedoed by a German U-boat and sunk. Of the 1,959 people on board, 1,198 died, including 128 Americans. The sinking of the Lusitania enraged Americans (even though they had been warned) and hastened the United States' entrance into World War I.
Woodrow Wilson, born in the 'Confederate States of America,' remembered the devastation, the deprivation, and the degradation that comes from losing a war. He carried that with him.
On August 4th, he wrote to the leaders of the newly warring nations that he would “welcome an opportunity to act in the interest of European peace.”
Almost from the outset of the war, Woodrow Wilson was trying to find diplomatic solutions. He believed if all the heads of state could sit at a table and confer, they could probably have ended this war. There didn’t have to be a war here...
What changed his opinion leading him to quote: "We are glad tofight thus for the ultimate peace of the world and for the liberation of its peoples...the world must be made safe for Democracy!?"
The Panama Canal (Spanish: Canal de Panamá) is a 48-mile (77.1 km) ship canal in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean (via the Caribbean Sea) to the Pacific Ocean. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a key conduit for international maritime trade; the 10 hour crossing shaving 2 weeks off a dangerous trip around the tip of South America. There are locks at each end to lift ships up to Gatun Lake (85 feet (26 m) above sea-level). The Gatun Lake was used to reduce the amount of work required for a sea-level connection. The current locks are 110 feet (33.5 m) wide.
What was the strategic importance militarily and economically of the Panama Canal?
The Chicago World's Fair produced a number of firsts besides Ferris’ 264-foot-tall wheel. Among the well-loved commercial products that made their debut at the Chicago World’s Fair were Cracker Jack, Cream of Wheat, Juicy Fruit gum and Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. Technological products that would soon find their way into homes nationwide, such as the dishwasher and fluorescent light bulbs, had early prototype versions on display in Chicago as well. The U.S. government also got in on the act, issuing the country’s first postcards and commemorative stamps and two new commemorative coins: a quarter and half dollar. The half dollar featured Christopher Columbus, in whose honor the fair had been staged, while the quarter depicted Queen Isabella of Spain, who had funded Columbus’ voyages—making it the first U.S. coin to honor a woman.
Perhaps the most famous first wasn't advertised in the fair literature: America's First Serial Killer! Unbeknownst to festival goers, there was a mass murderer in their midst. For several years before and during the exposition, Dr. Henry Howard Holmes was busily luring victims (including a number of fairgoers) to a three-story, block-long building called the “Castle,” where they were tortured, mutilated and killed. Although H. H. Holmes’ heinous crimes weren’t discovered until after the fair ended, it’s believed that he was responsible for dozens of deaths in Chicago.
In his best selling bookThe Devil in the White City Author Erik Larson tells the stories of two men: Daniel H. Burnham, the architect responsible for the fair's construction, and H.H. Holmes, a serial killer masquerading as a charming doctor. Burnham's challenge was immense. In a short period of time, he was forced to overcome the death of his partner and numerous other obstacles to construct the famous "White City" around which the fair was built. His efforts to complete the project, and the fair's incredible success, are skillfully related along with entertaining appearances by such notables as Buffalo Bill Cody, Susan B. Anthony, and Thomas Edison. The activities of the sinister Dr. Holmes, who is believed to be responsible for scores of murders around the time of the fair, are equally remarkable. He devised and erected the World's Fair Hotel, complete with crematorium and gas chamber, near the fairgrounds and used the event as well as his own charismatic personality to lure victims. Combining the stories of an architect and a killer in one book, mostly in alternating chapters, seems like an odd choice but it works. The magical appeal and horrifying dark side of 19th-century Chicago are both revealed through Larson's skillful writing.
Daniel Burnham (Architect) HH Holmes (Killer)
"Beneath the gore and smoke and loam, this story is about the evanescence of life, and why some men choose to fill their brief allotment of time engaging the impossible, others in the manufacture of sorrow"
1) In what ways does the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 change America? What lasting
inventions and ideas did it introduce into American culture?
2) How did the 'White City' compare with Chicago, the 'Black City' or any other American City of the time?
3) How did Holmes' hotel contrast with the buildings of the World's Fair? Can architecture reflect goodness or evil, or are buildings neutral until used?
4) How was Holmes able to get away with so many murders without becoming suspect? Were
you surprised by how easy it was for him to commit crimes without being caught?
5) What does the story reveal about “conflict between good and evil"? What is the essential difference between men like Daniel Burnham and Henry H. Holmes? Are they alike in any way?
6) After the Fair ended, Ray Stannard Baker noted "What a human downfall after the
magnificence and prodigality of the World's Fair which has so recently closed its doors!
Heights of splendor, pride, exaltation in one month: depths of wretchedness, suffering,
hunger, cold, in the next" [p. 334]. What is the relationship between the opulence and
grandeur of the Fair and the poverty and degradation that surrounded it? In what ways does
the Fair bring into focus the extreme contrasts of the Gilded Age?
7) At the end of The Devil in the White City, Larson writes "The thing that entranced me about
Chicago in the Gilded Age was the city's willingness to take on the impossible in the name of
civic honor, a concept so removed from the modern psyche that two wise readers of early
drafts of this book wondered why Chicago was so avid to win the world's fair in the first
place" [p. 393]. What motives, in addition to "civic honor," drove Chicago to build the Fair? In
what ways might the desire to "out-Eiffel Eiffel" and to show New York that Chicago was
more than a meat-packing backwater be seen as American? In what ways were they problematic?
The World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 was an event of immense cultural importance to America and the World nearing the turn of the century. From May 1 to October 31, 1893, Chicago and the Exposition were host to 27 million visitors--nearly one quarter of the country's population at the time. Fairs encompassed the spectrum of experience and interest of the 1800s--from sport to entertainment to high culture. To understand their importance and draw in modern terms, they could be seen as a combination of the Olympics, DisneyWorld, the Superbowl, and the National Gallery--an international entertainment and cultural event with lasting social importance.
Particularly amazing was the fact that this futuristic view of what urban life could be grew out of the ashes of the Chicago fire just 22 years before.
Like the 'Gilded Age' the Columbian Exposition suspended reality. It was a fantasy. None of it was real. The buildings of the fair were designed to be temporary and unfortunately, most of them were destroyed. The exceptions being the replica Statue of the Republic (above) and the old Palace of Fine Arts. It's since been converted into the city of Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry. The rest of the Columbian Exposition is long gone. So what happened to all the other buildings you ask?
Like most World’s Fairs, the storied “White City” of Chicago’s 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition was mostly destroyed after the end of the Fair, and little evidence remains today. I’ve often wondered what it would have been like to experience the fairgrounds in person. Thanks to the Urban Simulation Team at UCLA, and through the wonders of technology we can, however, still take a 'virtual' stroll through the grounds by clicking here.
The Buffalo Soldiers were a segregated regiment of black cavalry fighters during the American campaign to rid the West of "Indians" so that "civilized" white people could gain the lands used by Native Americans. They were given their name by the Native Americans who called them Buffalo Soldiers because their short & curly hair was like the hair on the back of a buffalo's neck. They were compared with the buffalo's strength and tenacity. Duties were settling railroad disputes, building telegraph lines, repairing and building forts, helping settlers find a place to live and protecting the settlers from Indian attacks.
The charge up an obscure Cuban hill on July, 1 1898 was a pivotal point in Theodore Roosevelt's political career. When war broke with Spain in April of that year, Roosevelt was serving as Assistant Secretary of the Navy. He immediately quit his position and helped form a regiment of volunteers. The "Rough Riders" enlisted cowboys and college men led by Roosevelt under the command of Leonard Wood. They arrived in Cuba in time to take part in the Battle of San Juan Hill.
Teddy Roosevelt charging up the San Juan Heights, the Rough Riders and the sinking of the battleship, the U.S.S. Maine---these are what people commonly know about the United States' war with Spain in 1898. What they may not remember is that this was the war that steered the United States to center stage as a world power. Victorious over Spain in Cuba and the Philippines, the United States, a nation founded in opposition to imperialism, grappled with its new role as an imperial power. Read more...
On February 15, 1898 an explosion ripped through the hull of the USS Maine. President McKinley told the American people that the USS Maine had been sunk in Havana Harbor by a Spanish mine and the sailors were given a hero's burial in Arlington National cemetery. The American people, outraged by this apparent unprovoked attack, supported the Spanish American War in large numbers.
But was this the Truth?
Conspiracy theorists and historians have offered some other possible explanations over the years:
1) A covert operation by the US government blew up the ship (It was not a front line battleship) to make a case for war.
2) A fire in a coal bunker accidentally lit off an adjacent ammo magazine.
3) William Randolph Hearst arranged to have the ship explode so as to profit from selling his newspapers.
Get into groups of 3. Assign one of the reports below to each member of your group and use it to fill out the document analysis worksheet. When you are done come back together and share, choosing one of the theories above best supported by the facts.
Learn about the impact of visual design in early newspapers and how it continues to influence media today. Discover the competitive tactics—that crossed the line into fake news—Joseph Pulitzer and William R. Hearst employed to outsell each other, particularly in their personal competition to sell newspapers during the Spanish-American War.
Welcome to the home page of Mr. Kelly's American History class, Talawanda High School, Oxford, Ohio, USA. Here you will find assignments, links to lessons, your grades, and online discussions. Please remember that this site is an online extension of our classroom and to treat each other with respect. Thanks and BE BRAVE!
